186 replies to this topic

[Tomf]

One other thing I would highly recommend after this year is doing your first lap with a navigator that's been on the ring before. Bounce made me feel so much more comfortable by doing that.

Totally agree, I know Ben played some racing game on the comptuer (not sure which one) and he know the track like the back of his hand from doing that...


If anyone know what game it was can they let me know.

Also do TMF+ members get priority for the run?

[Dev]

One other thing I would highly recommend after this year is doing your first lap with a navigator that's been on the ring before. Bounce made me feel so much more comfortable by doing that.

Totally agree, I know Ben played some racing game on the comptuer (not sure which one) and he know the track like the back of his hand from doing that...


If anyone know what game it was can they let me know.

Also do TMF+ members get priority for the run?

Whilst it adviseable that your first laps should be sigthing laps i would suggest that every trip you use the first two for this purpose. that way any changes to the track (ie tarmac) can be checked.

Also as realistic as games are they dont give you any idea of the track reall in terms of camber, g's, surface, grip levels

[THE STIG]

Saying that there are ways to limit the risks, driving carefully etc or another way is to just go round on a parade lap.

or just go round in a rented ring prep'ed car with me as 7 people did this year

i spent about £400 and that included £200 to hire the car and fuel for the ring for the day

but i dont drink and did'nt eat a lot that week lol

ADAC cover is rubbish i broke down in dover on way home at 5pm wednesday night took them till thursday 10pm to take me as far as rugby half way to hull where i needed to be

turns out it only gives you 200 euro's worth of cover if had broken down in europe would have only taken me to the ferry

and dont forget to read the small print on any breakdown cover if the cost of the recovey is more than the car is worth they wont recover it

so make sure you have a agreed value on your car that way they cant argue

last year broke down had cover and agreed valve with adrian flux got hire car for 5 days, flight home for me and my passanger and car was back at my house in 2 weeks

[Black.Ghost]

I absolutely loved it there last year - my first trip. Im going to be in Germany for the next two years so I might be making a few extra trips down there. I am thinking I will be back in the UK on leave for when the TMF trip happens - so I'll be going from there. I wouldnt miss the convoy down. There is nothing like breaking down on the motorway in Belgium and pushing the car a KM up the road in the hard shoulder, only to find the damn thing randomly started again after that. The lorries were quite scary as well haha.

I met a lot of people from here which was great. I had a really good time on the whole trip and highly recommend it.

As for the games, the guy I went with had done the ring about 50 times on the computer. He said it doesnt matter how many you do it wont prepare you for the ups and downs of the road - but it did help him know the basic layout and he knew what to expect next...

I really want to have a different car for this trip- so I will have about 9 months to find a decent car and do any work needed to it.

As for crashing/costs etc, I was concerned about that last year. Luckily I know my mate had enough money to bail us out if the absolute worst happened, but just driving sensibly made sure everything was ok.

[drummerian]

One other thing I would highly recommend after this year is doing your first lap with a navigator that's been on the ring before. Bounce made me feel so much more comfortable by doing that.

Totally agree, I know Ben played some racing game on the comptuer (not sure which one) and he know the track like the back of his hand from doing that...


If anyone know what game it was can they let me know.

Also do TMF+ members get priority for the run?

gt4 for the ps2, me and a friend played the 4 hour endurance race, thats right! lol

[Dev]

the safest way to learn the track would be when it is queitest, therefore reducing the need to constantly check your mirrors etc.

A parade lap would be optimum for this, if arranged on a saturday morning or the first part of the friday evening session

[BigEnd]

It all depends on the final dates and holiday arrangements whether I'll be going this year. We're on a family holiday to Florida the first two weeks of August.

On the cost issue I'm amazed at all the prices people come up with. Augusts trip, including break down cover, fuel, the cost of the trip and 12 laps etc. totalled nearly £900 for me

Last years ride has now gone as it was too nice to thrash round tracks, so it was good bye to this....



...and hello to my new toy!

[The Matt]

I know that Bec and Bounce helped me out a lot with run costs and fuel costs.

Anyway Bigend, nice MX!

[BigEnd]

Cheers big guy, want a pax in September?

[The Matt]

Fo Sho!

There's a thread about it already

[RacingGreen]

It all depends on the final dates and holiday arrangements whether I'll be going this year. We're on a family holiday to Florida the first two weeks of August.

On the cost issue I'm amazed at all the prices people come up with. Augusts trip, including break down cover, fuel, the cost of the trip and 12 laps etc. totalled nearly £900 for me

Last years ride has now gone as it was too nice to thrash round tracks, so it was good bye to this....



...and hello to my new toy!

Very nice indeed. Is it a 1.8? This is what il be going in:

[mini Ben]

One other thing I would highly recommend after this year is doing your first lap with a navigator that's been on the ring before. Bounce made me feel so much more comfortable by doing that.

Totally agree, I know Ben played some racing game on the comptuer (not sure which one) and he know the track like the back of his hand from doing that...


If anyone know what game it was can they let me know.

GTR Evolution and GT Legends (you can drive a mini!) both on pc

[jack_marshall]

Makes 3!

[BigEnd]

Very nice indeed. Is it a 1.8? This is what il be going in:

Awesome. It'll be a real gay parade with the MX5's going

Mine's currently a stock UK spec, 1.8 with 45k on the clock. Got the funds for the new suspension (probably AGX/FM combo and poly ARB bushes on standard ARB's). Suede OMP steering wheel and bucket seat. If additional funds allow I'll add an exhaust and induction kit and we're good to go

[RacingGreen]

Very nice indeed. Is it a 1.8? This is what il be going in:

Awesome. It'll be a real gay parade with the MX5's going

Mine's currently a stock UK spec, 1.8 with 45k on the clock. Got the funds for the new suspension (probably AGX/FM combo and poly ARB bushes on standard ARB's). Suede OMP steering wheel and bucket seat. If additional funds allow I'll add an exhaust and induction kit and we're good to go

I did research about fitting a HKS induction kit and the advice i got was that. It wont do alot for performance, due to the engine being designed for a turbo, its not great for NA tuning. the only real worthwhile performance mods are adding boost.